Analysis: A competitive environment?

This paper by the Green Alliance looks into the highly polarised debate on competitiveness and environmental policy and suggests ways forward.

In this paper entitled “A competitive environment?” the Green Alliance says the EU’s competitiveness agenda has put the spotlight on regulation and its negative effects on the economy.

Debates about environmental regulation often come down to issues of competitiveness and costs of compliance. The arguments on both sides are well-rehearsed. Industry lobby groups tend to say that badly-designed or overly burdensome regulation hinders competitiveness by driving up costs and bureaucracy. The environmental lobby responds by saying that, for example, regulation can drive competitiveness, because eco-efficient companies are more competitive, because regulation drives innovation and because it gives a boost to environmental industries. It is very difficult to sustain either of these positions. The reality, as this paper shows, is somewhat more nuanced.

Click here to download the full paper from the Green Alliance website.